


Up and Up and Up

by SonjaJade



Category: Fullmetal Alchemist: Brotherhood & Manga
Genre: Gen, Post-Canon, Slice of Life, my baby's growing up
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-05-25
Updated: 2020-05-25
Packaged: 2021-03-02 19:54:41
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,065
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/24372373
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/SonjaJade/pseuds/SonjaJade
Summary: Winry notices her oldest is getting bigger- bigger than his father!
Relationships: Edward Elric/Winry Rockbell
Comments: 1
Kudos: 46
Collections: Moms Made Fullmetal Week 2020





	Up and Up and Up

**Author's Note:**

> DAY 2: Growth

Winry notices it first. She’s putting away the clean dishes when she looks out the window and sees Edward and their oldest, James, standing next to one another as they survey the plot for the vegetable garden. Sunlight in their ponytails, wind gently ruffling their shirts- and James standing a whole inch taller than Ed.

She doesn’t mention anything about it to her husband, however. She can already hear the ranting that would inevitably come from such a discovery. After all, once Ed finally hit his full height, he gloated over being the tallest in the whole house. Winry doesn’t want to rip his title away from him so soon, especially when it means her baby boy is closer to being a man than a baby. Instead, she waits to see how long it will take before they either notice the difference. 

A month goes by. They till and plant the garden and the first sprouts are starting to break the soil. Another month and the plants are thriving; some are beginning to bloom, others are just growing taller and wider each day. Neither has said anything yet about James’ growth, however. It isn’t until it’s time to start school shopping that Ed finally realizes the growth in their son.

They’ve gone into town to see about new shoes for the kids for the school year. Paulie’s is having a sale on both dungarees and boots, so now’s the time to get them. They park and their four children scramble out of the back of the truck, excited to be in town. When James joins them, Ed catches sight of the family walking past the shop windows and stops.

“James, c’mere a sec!” he calls. He jogs over and Winry watches with a grin.

“Yeah, Pop?”

Ed gives him a strange look, then points in the glass. “When did that happen?”

James doesn’t understand that he’s supposed to be looking at the reflections and instead looks through the window. He chuckles. “Pop, gingham dresses have been around since before  _ your _ old ass was born!”

Ed smacks his arm and says, “No, look at us! What’s different?”

James still seems confused, so Winry goes to help show him what Ed means. She stands behind them, putting one hand over James' head. Without moving it, she tells him to get out of the way and has Ed stand in his place. Her hand is now nearly three inches above Ed’s head (his actual head, not his antenna).

“Oh!” James exclaims, seemingly embarrassed at his own thick headedness. “I dunno, it just happened, I guess.”

Ed takes a deep breath and Winry braces herself for the coming tantrum. But what Ed does surprises her.

He pats his son on the shoulder. “I’m so glad somebody got Hohenheim’s height. It definitely wasn’t me!”

“Does that mean James is now the tallest?” asks Marcella, their youngest.

“Sure does!” Ed says with a grin. “See what happens when you eat your vegetables?”

“And drink your milk?” Winry adds. She giggles when both father and daughter frown at the mention of the dairy drink.

“Can we go in now?” Sara asks. “I want to look at the bookbags!” 

Winry agrees that they should get started and home before dinner, and they all go inside to make their purchases.

Afterward, while Winry cooks the meal, she asks James to stick around so she can talk with him in the kitchen. Instead of idly standing around, he picks up a wash rag and cleans the dishes that she’s already finished with, so his sister has less to wash after they finish eating.

Winry wipes her hands on her apron and gives him a sideways hug. “I can’t believe how big you’ve gotten. Not only have you grown taller, but you’re growing to be a pretty mature, responsible and thoughtful young man.” He gives her an embarrassed grin, and she adds, “I’m really proud of you, son.”

“Thank you,” he murmurs quietly.

“Next year, you’ll be seventeen, and I’m not ready!” she says with a laugh. “It only feels like it’s been five or six years ago that you were born!”

“Aw jeeze, Mom!” James replies, scrubbing at a mixing bowl in the sink.

“I can’t help it! You’ll always be my baby boy, even if you get to be taller than this room,” she kids, patting his back. “And thank you for not making your father feel bad for being short. He used to be really touchy about that when we were younger.”

He rinses the bowl and takes a towel hanging on the refrigerator handle. “I know. I actually knew when I outgrew him, but I didn’t want to tell him.” He begins to dry the bowl. “Kinda silly, huh?”

“I noticed almost three months ago, but I didn’t say anything, either. Seems great minds think alike!” she says, giving him a wink as she stirs the rice cooking on the stove. James finishes up what’s currently in the sink, then asks her if she needs him for anything else. She lets him go with a kiss to the cheek and continues preparing dinner.

She thinks about the surprise pregnancy that brought James into their lives and moved their wedding date up a good five months. She remembers worrying with her granny about how she would be able to raise a child when she wasn’t far out of childhood herself. The long, sleepless nights, the stress of becoming pregnant again so soon after James was born, the endless struggle to balance motherhood and her career…

She looks over to see James lean down over Marcella’s shoulder, helping her to pronounce a word in her story book and then explain what it means. He pats her head before helping Conrad set the table, and Winry can’t help but smile. It seems not only have her children grown in size and capability, but she herself has grown, too. She’s no longer intimidated by her lack of skill in rearing children, as she can see that she’s done just fine with her firstborn.

Cooking for a family of six, something she doesn’t always enjoy very much, doesn’t seem to be as much work tonight. With a smile and a happy heart, she calls out, “Dinner’s ready!” Working to prepare and share an ordinary meal with her family shouldn’t make her feel this joyful, but it does.


End file.
